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noraunor · 1 month

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BURN A MOTH

Characters : angel dust, alastor, vox, valentino x human reader.

๑ | synopsis : angel came back to the hotel with a beaten bruises on his face, once you saw this your heart dropped at the sight that you started bombarding him question which he refused to answer, but you kept pestering him. Once he finally admitted, oh dear Satan hell have never been more hotter than your rage.

๑ | tw : cursing, bit blood will be mentioned.

๑ | a/n : this is actually an adaption of the small comic I made, click here to see the art!

Master list | master list

Sipping your coffee as you him yourself a tune while reading the book in your hand as the hotels door slammed opened revealing your favorite spider demon.

Upon seeing his figure, your mood brightened seeing him as you dropped your book and skipped to the tall spider.

" Angeeeel! " you beamed, but after seeing his whole form stopped from you from pouncing on him as your felt your heart dropped.

Angel was covered in bruises and a busted lip and a black eye on his right eye.

" holy shit- angel, what happened to you?! " you scurried closer to him trying to reach for his cheeks but failed due to his height and leaning away.

" I'm fine toots, just got into a fight. " he murmured as he held your shoulders refraining you from jumping on him.

" nah nah, don't give me the "just" angge, you're literally a mess! " you huffed as your grabbed his hand and pulled him to the sofa. " sit. "

" toots- 's ok- I'm fi- " you cut him " sit. The. Fuck. Down. " that was enough for him to shut his mouth and flipped himself to the sofa.

He flinched when he felt your fingers into his busted lip, his other arms went to grab your waist while his other set of arm were on your shoulders and his other arm was on your wrists, stopping you from touching his face further.

" what the f- angel! Let me look! " you groaned as you climbed into the sofa in between his legs as you reached out to his face.

" 'm tellin' you! I'm fine! " he groaned as he pushes you away but you kept pushing yourself into him.

" fine?! Bitch- you're literally bleeding! "

" angel... Please? "

Angel groaned more as his grip from your waist and hand lessen finally giving you an access to him. Your hand softly touched his cheek with him flinching in the process, angels head turned away from you, away from your eyes. You could see tears swelling up into his eyes as your eyes scanned his injuries more.

Angel felt terrible, he felt worse, he felt... Dirty, he hated it.

He sighed deeply before turning to you.

"Satisfied? " he asked but stopped once he saw your dark expression.

".... Y/n?.. "

" angel.. I want the names. "

" huh? Why? - "

" names. Please. "

Angel sighed in defeat " fine.. It's my boss, valentino.. Don't know the fuck happened to that dick but that jerk suddenly barged in 'ta my room and started roughin' my shit up. " he groaned, at the story he just told you, everything around you gone blank as your vision started to go red.

"... Uh y/n?.."

Alastor was just in his room, playing soft songs to his radio while he enjoyed his venison when he heard footsteps outside of his door before his door was barged open.

His smile became strained as his brows knitted as he saw the certain spider demon out of breath in his door step.

" ever heard of knocking before or have you just loose your manners entirely. " alastor scowl but his smile still remains.

His antlers becomes larger as symbol starts to appear around him as the statics became loud.

" this better be very important or I'll have your head on my wall for disturbing my dinner like that and barging into my door without my permission. " he growled as his neck snapped side way.

Once angel finally catches his breath he raises his head to face the radio demon.

" i-its.. Pant it's the human! Fuck- hurry and get your ass out of here! "

The sound of the television bugging and short circuiting and crashes filled the bee's tower.

" OW- WHAT THE FUCK- HOW ARE YOU THIS POWEFUL?! " valentino screeched as he tried to fly away but only to be stabbed by a thrown butcher knife on his wings by you. " FUCK! " he cursed as he glanced at his pierced Wing trying to tug the butcher knife off of his wings, he glanced back at his fellow tv demon but his eyes we're blown wide only to see a hanger piercing into his screen. Val stopped from his movements when he saw your shoes.

He slowly tilted his head up to see you glaring at him with another butcher knife on your hand.

Before all of this chaos, the vee's were just peacefully doing their thing when screams and crashes echoes below their floor. When vox came to check it out, he saw his staff beaten up and then a human in the center of the room, walking towards his direction, vox tried to stop you but only to be shoved away by you. Vox didn't like that so the two of you fought for a moment before the moth overload finally came down and aw the two of you in each other's neck, once you saw the sight of him, your attention quickly changed to val. And then this happened, but with vox now laying on the floor with a hanger on his screen.

" I'm gonna fucking tear that shitty ass wings and give that shitty lookin cottond to nifty and make it my door mat and hang your head into my wall. " you grinned as you raised your butcher.

" might as well chop your dick off and feed it to the cannibal~well if you have one. " you giggled as you saw val paled.

Valentio screamed as you swung the butcher towards him only to be you pulled back.

" alright that's enough. " a familiar static voice called behind you.

Alastor held you by the back of your T-shirt as you still tried to advance to Val as he screams.

" AAAAAAAAAAAAAA "

" as entertaining this is but I cant have my little human wiping out the vee's just like that! Imagine! Getting killed by a mere human! " alastor humored as his eyes landed on a defeated vox.

" oh how pathetic! "

Angel was just behind alastor, his mouth was dropped open as he saw the massacre you made.

"... Holy shit.. "

#hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel #alastor the radio demon #alastor #hazbin hotel alastor #alastor x reader #hazbin hotel valentino #hazbin hotel vox #ˠ . ° . 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢! 𖤐

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sophieinwonderland · 1 month

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The Plurality of... Avatar: The Last Airbender

Major Spoilers For Avatar: The Last Airbender ahead! And minor spoilers of related properties.

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the four nations lived in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished.

Welcome to the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender. A world where some people are born with the gift of bending, an ancient art that allows them to control one of the four elements. But only one. Even if they came from parents who were different types of benders, each bender only gets a single element.

But there exists a single exception to this rule. The Avatar. The one person in the world who can master all four elements.

But we're not here to talk about the Avatar's cool bending powers. We're here today to talk about…

The Plurality of The Avatar

Plurality: A state of multiple self-conscious agents, or "headmates," sharing a single body.

The Avatar isn't merely a jack of all trades bender. Simply knowing how to use the four elements is only a small part of their toolbelt. And perhaps one of the least important. Despite the series placing a strong focus on the need to master all four elements, perhaps the actual most important thing about the Avatar is that they reincarnate and are connected with their past selves.

This allows each Avatar to speak to and learn from the experiences of past avatars. This is most prominent in what's called the Avatar State, a sort of super form where their eyes (and downvotes) glow as they channel the skills and abilities of all the past avatars through them.

(Art by @joeyscomics)

Aang's avatar state is a sort of blending of the avatars without a distinct identity of its own.

Additionally, there were also a couple instances through the show where Aang, the current avatar, switches into other avatars.

During the season 1 mid-season finale, The Winter Solstice, Aang first contacts Avatar Roku, his firebending predecessor. Trapped in a temple with no way out, a group stands outside the door prepared to strike as soon as the avatar steps through. They expect to see a small child walk through the doors. But what they see instead is Avatar Roku.

Once the enemies have been defeated and fled, Roku turns back into an exhausted Aang, who drops to his knees.

In season 2, this happens again with Aang switching into avatar Kyoshi. Again, sure to spirit magic, Aang physically transforms into Kyoshi.

(Obviously, real plurals don't physically transform, as cool as that would be. But spirits in the avatar universe do have shape-changing capabilities, being able to alter both their own forms and the forms of others. There are many examples in Legend of Korra and the comics, but one big one we see in A:TLA is Koh The Face Stealer, who as you can guess, steals people's faces, physically transforming their bodies. Simply put, we can accept the Avatar Spirit as having the ability to naturally shapeshift.)

So there's the basics of the Avatar's plurality. We have multiple people sharing a body. We have system-like internal communication. We have switching. And we even have a state that could be best described as blendy.

In the plural community, a system that's formed from past lives is sometimes called Fenigenic or Phoenigenic, drawing its name from the phoenix; The mythical bird that dies and is reborn from its ashes.

From Pluralpedia:

Fenigenic is a system origin that describes systems who formed from past lives in some way. They may believe they left their past life and were reborn again as a system, came into the system from a past life into the body (causing plurality), were a system in a past life and were reborn again with the same one, and/or various other scenarios. This is an intentionally broad label that can describe many different experiences.

With these established facts, without a doubt, the avatar would qualify as a Pheonigenic system.

But I want to delve even deeper. Because at its core, Avatar: The Last Airbender isn't just a story about a kid who happens to be plural. It's a story about plurality. It's a story about dissociation. About connecting with and building connections with parts of yourself. And about taking responsibility for those parts, even when you aren't actually them. And all of this is what make the series so fascinating from a plural perspective!

The Avatar State as a "Self-Defense Mechanism"

At the beginning of season 2, Aang enters the avatar state while scared of losing his friends, and talks to Roku again. Roku explains to Aang what the avatar state is.

The Avatar State is a defense mechanism, designed to empower you with the skill and knowledge of all the past Avatars. The glow is the combination of all your past lives focusing their energy through your body. In the Avatar State, you're at your most powerful... but you are also at your most vulnerable.

At this point, Aang learns that if he dies in the Avatar State, the cycle breaks and the avatar will never reincarnate again.

Let's take another look at that wording though. "The Avatar State is a defense mechanism." It's a word choice that you wouldn't expect to find in a fantasy cartoon. "Defense mechanisms" are more a psychological term, having their origins in psychoanalysis.

Why does this matter?

Because the avatar state, at its core, is a dissociative state. And dissociation has often been described as a defense mechanism itself. From Wikipedia:

In mild cases, dissociation can be regarded as a coping mechanism or defense mechanism in seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress – including boredom or conflict.

And later when talking about traumamatic dissociation, it goes on to explain:

Symptoms of dissociation resulting from trauma may include depersonalization, psychological numbing, disengagement, or amnesia regarding the events of the abuse. It has been hypothesized that dissociation may provide a temporarily effective defense mechanism in cases of severe trauma; however, in the long term, dissociation is associated with decreased psychological functioning and adjustment.

What's interesting about the avatar state is that, while there are some times Aang goes into the Avatar State to protect himself, often he enters it as a response to stress in general.

The first couple times we see Aang go into the Avatar State, it's to physically protect himself. Once to freeze himself. Then again to fight Zuko. But the next time he enters the Avatar State, there's no danger. There's no need to use it.

This is when he's at the Southern Air Temple, and sees his old friend Monk Gyatsu. It's when he really learns and has to process that he's the last airbender and everyone he ever knew is dead.

Aang doesn't use the avatar state as a physical defense mechanism here. Rather, he enters the avatar state as a psychological defense mechanism.

It takes over because he's disengaging. He just learned something traumatic and he can't come to terms with it. He shuts down, and his friends have to reach him through the pain.

This becomes a pretty common theme throughout the series from then on. Sometimes, it's the physical danger that causes him to transform. But other times, he's triggered into this state by his friends being in danger, or from losing Appa.

Time and time again, we see the Avatar State as being triggered by extreme mental stress more often than by any sort of physical stress.

A big part of Aang's journey though the series then becomes learning to master the Avatar State and the dissociation that comes with it. To take control of it instead of letting it control him.

Avatar's Take on System Responsibility

"System responsibility" is the concept in the plural community that if one headmate does something, then the entire system of headmates is responsible for it. Some feel this is unfair, but for practicality, it makes sense. If someone steals something, then obviously you can't send only one headmate to prison. So a big part of being plural ends up having to accept that if someone else you share a body with does something wrong, even if you don't agree with it or don't even remember it, you're responsible for it.

And Avatar has its own form of this, where all Avatars have a single spirit that is reincarnated, and are therefore responsible for the actions of their past lives.

This is most exemplified in the episode Avatar Day.

In this episode, the Gaang wander into a town that's celebrating the titular Avatar Day. They see a parade with massive wooden floats of the past three Avatars. Aang, Roku and Kyoshi.

What appears to be a nice festival that the Gaang is enjoying is quickly turned on its head when a villager sets fires to the figures and the crowd begins chanting "down with the Avatar" while the figures burn.

It turns out, this town believed Avatar Kyoshi murdered their leader, Chin The Great.

In order to prove he wasn't a murderer, Aang volunteers to stand trial. Even though Aang and Kyoshi are separate people in a way... in another, they aren't. And Kyoshi being a murderer is something that would continue to follow Aang around.

So he agrees to go on trial, and refuses encouragement from his friends to escape. And he could escape if wanted to.

When viewed through the lens of a plural system, what we see here is a demonstration of system responsibility, where Aang is showing himself willing to take responsibility for the actions of past Avatars.

Later in the episode, Katara decides that they need to call Kyoshi herself to prove their innocence, and dresses Aang in Kyoshi's clothes to "see if it might trigger something."

And it actually does! This stunt causes Kyoshi to take front! (With a full body transformation because spirit stuff.)

In the end, Kyoshi confesses to killing Chin, who she calls Chin the Conqueror, and Aang is willing to accept the outcome of the trial.

It's not just this one episode though. It's a running theme of the series.

The franchise even.

In season 3, Roku reveals that the whole reason the world was in danger was because of his connection to and weakness in stopping Fire Lord Sozin, who went on to wipe out the Air Nomads. Aang is left with the responsibility of making up for Roku's mistakes.

In the books, it's revealed that Avatar Kyoshi's earliest trials were a direct result of the failings of Kuruk, the avatar before her. And his were a result of Yangchen's mistakes. And in the sequel series, avatar Korra is left to make up for the mistakes of not just Aang, but also Avatar Wan who started the cycle.

The Avatars are people who share a single soul. Each new avatar can be viewed as a new host in the same system. And each one therefore is responsible for making up for the mistakes of those that came before.

This is what the avatar franchise, at its core, is about. A single system making mistakes through life after life, and having to fix those mistakes in the next, hopefully making the world a better place and keeping balance along the way.

A Story of Connection and Balance

With all of this in mind, Aang begins his journey is a system cut off from his headmates.

A central theme of the story is restoring that connection. This story really begins with Aang entering the avatar state in the Southern Air Temple. This is the first time he loses control and nearly hurts the people he cares about.

The avatar state here is something powerful, yes, but also something to be feared, making him a danger to his friends. He doesn't understand at the time what that state is exactly. It's something that leaves him confused and scared.

Through the series, he gradually learns more about the avatar state and his past lives. He begins to learn from avatar Roku. Then from Kyoshi. He learns about their lives, and has to reconcile their past mistakes. He also has to learn to accept himself as the avatar. Something which he struggled with throughout the series, and led to him fleeing his people.

At the end of season 2, Aang nearly dies in the avatar state. In a canon webgame called Escape from the Sprit World, while unconscious, Aang enters the spirit world and goes on a journey where he has to reconnect with the past avatars in order to prevent the avatar cycle from being broken, going back all the way to meet Avatar Yangchen, the airbender before him.

After meeting and learning from all these avatars, he's able to awaken with a new connection to them. (Albeit with no memory of this side quest.) Although he's told he won't be able to enter the Avatar State for the time being.

After this, on the Summer Solstice, he was able to meet with Roku once again to learn about Roku's own past, and his history with Fire Lord Sozin.

All of these events laid the groundwork for a final realization in the series finale. That the past avatars were always with him. He's able to meditate and reach out, and commune with each of them.

Finally, Aang has become a fully-realized avatar, tearing down barriers that kept him separate from the rest of his system!

And in the final battle, Aang is able to access the avatar state with full control over it for the first time.

Some would say that this was because of a conveniently-placed rock. Which, yes, that might have been the literal trigger that unblocked his chi. But narratively, I would argue that it was the connection with the past avatars that truly allowed him to access the avatar state again. That finally connecting with them all was how he truly earned this ability!

Conclusion

So there we have it! The story of Avatar: The Last Airbender is not just an incredible story, but an incredible story of plurality and connection between headmate.

This was really fun to write about, and I enjoyed talking about the plurality of the Avatar.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read!

I think with that, I've covered everythi...

Oh... right...

I guess I didn't cover everything about the plurality of the Avatar, did I?

Guess I need to plan for a Plurality of The Legend of Korra in the future! 😁

(And if you're interested in more of my ramblings about plural representations, you can check out my post about the Plurality of Batman. Or you can read about The Plurality of The Hybrid Chronicles: What's Left of Me, where I analyze a novel about a world where everyone is born with two souls.)

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thedepartmentofdiscoveries · 3 months

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‘Warrior takes an armored cat for a walk’ (着甲武人猫散歩逍遥図) by Noguchi Tetsuya, 2014. Image widely shared on social media.

There's an image that's been shared on social media dozens of times over the past few years, typically without attribution. The image depicts a shoeless samurai walking an armored cat. The samurai has a helmet with cat ears, and the image appears to be weathered and old, perhaps dating back to Medieval Japan.

In reality, the paint is the creation of Japanese artist Tetsuya Noguchi, whose specialty is to depict samurai in bizarre, often comic situations.

He appears to have mastered traditional techniques to create highly-detailed replica armor that would not be out of place in a museum.

Writing for web magazine artscape Japan, which covers Japan's art scene, Alan Gleason dubbed the style “samurai surrealism”. He explains: ''Every few years an artist gains cachet with pictures of hamburger-munching geishas and the like, painted in the fashion of ukiyoe or Nihonga. Though the gimmick is fun the first time, after a while it gets pretty predictable — good for a laugh or two, but hardly the trenchant commentary on “traditional vs. modern” that the artist usually proclaims it to be. The best practitioners of this genre (Masami Teraoka comes to mind) make it work not because of the obvious satire, but because of their mastery of the classical art form used to set up the spoof. And once in a while the artist's technique is so exquisite that it elevates the work entirely out of the realm of parody, however droll the subject matter. Tetsuya Noguchi's work is just such an example.''

- Info from Animals in Art through History.

#noguchi tetsuya #japanese artists #samurai #cat #cats #feline #felines #samurai surrealism #japanese art #armour #armor #2014 #2020s art

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32bitterra · 29 days

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(March 1 - March 29, 2024)

Back once again for the renegade master, D4 damage with the ill behavior (camper fans come get ya food. more under the cut.)

AW YEAAAH

This is not a comic, just me getting easily distracted in art form. One of my friends thought Chloe's helmet was a TV screen.

Artist's block then began to beat my ass, but we will brute force our way through.

I wonder if Maloof likes Tom & Jerry.

This one's for the bird nerds and/or lovers of corny jokes out there.

Signs of spring.

ELKA DOOM FANS WHERE YA AT? MAKE SOME NOISE (I was feeling inspired.)

With Elka's help, the artist's block was vanquished.

This one is based on a dream I had months ago. They are listening to this because it kept me sane during the inordinate amount of time I spent on it.

Dart's head shape is like a modified version of Quentin's head shape (or maybe the other way around.) Visualizing it this way has made it easier to draw him.

A very important task as Bobby's henchman, you see.

(Note: since people have been unsure of what Bobby means when I show it - he wants Benny to bite into the apple first since he can't bite it with his bad teeth.)

Katherine.

I hope you took some time for Vernon on Storytelling Day (March 20)

There's been this commercial that plays "What A Feeling" and every time it comes on, it makes me think of Crystal without fail.

Is Chops wearing lipstick? The color is similar to Kitty's lipstick ... Did he steal it from her?

A Kitty-less Franke, how sad. I've expended all my energy to draw Kitty, so she has to be by herself.

J.T. has a very nice face. He has a very trustworthy smile. I trust him.

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pillowdrawz · 1 year

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MASTERLIST OF ANYTHING 🎨🖌DRAWING

Commission Sheet

(Idk how a master list work)

Btw I did all of this for fun FOR FUN.

♤Turtles forever Au [just a bunch of Turtle gen. Interacting] (On hold)

° Meeting 1. (Old art)

• Meeting 2 (old art)

○ busted meeting 3 (old art)

● Cloaking broach? 1 (old art)

□ Cloaking Broach! 2 (old art)

■ Don's training (old art)

♤ Training

◇ Mutated Soldiers

♡ Mutated Soldiers Leo

◇ Mutated soldiers Donnie

♧ Raph meeting 2012 meme

☆ Meme a Ten is speaking. (Old art

▪︎ Into the leo verse. (Old art)

¤ Turtles and Their Krang

《 Leo's traumas

{ Think leon think

》Leo's and Rise raph

¡ 12 MIKEY CHEATZ. (Old art)

? Spider verse Meme leos

} Hopeful (old art)

[ Don't talk to me or Otherme (Oldart

☆ Playing (old art)

R adorable Rise raph. (NOT SHIPPING)

\ Pranks and Destruction.

◇ watching Leo get L.

♧ watching Donnies get guns

$ Bamf Leo in 2012 world.

1 Future Leo's,MiseryxCprxreesespuffs

% Energy and Stab-

$ Accidentally Mutated Vs Purposely Mutated

2 Raphs Slay

÷ Raphs Height (Not canon I just had fun)

E He likes to be tall

V Is For Valentine's L is for 2003 Mikey/j

Y- Yoshi!!??

A, B.E.A.S.T ACTOR AU

, :3

4 Mutant Mayhem ???

5 Tmnt Animatic Leo's "You'll play your part"

B B.e.a.s.t Leo Joins?

🃏 Joking about trauma be like

💥 Mutant Mayhem Donnie meets??

🐇⚔ Leosagi both 2003 and rise

🤚 DANGEROUS

🙂 ask someone else

-⏭⏸❗----------

◇ Hamatos Umarekawari Au.(On going)

* first post Explannation

+ Raph's death explained

× first meeting part 1

÷ Second meeting part 2

= Meeting (thanos meme)

€ Ryu took the wheel literally

£ Memes

^ more Memes twins

¥ Posture

₩ Bandana

# Rise Boys Looks

$ Random Art of the Au.

% Twins powers

& Float

- Another meeting but different

= Baby?

$ COUSINS??

# Origin???

8 The Kids cloaking brooch/Human form

9 Shelly take care of grandpa...NO DONT KILL HIM-

---⏸⏭---

Random things/ Headcanon)

Rottmnt recoil fanart

TAIL

Cloaking Broach Raph

Cloaking Broach leo Part 1 (bad art)

Cloaking Broach Leo part 2

Cloaking Broach Donnie

MY FAV HC ABOUT THE TWINS

MY FAV HC ABOUT HAMATO NINPO

Rise Leo new Hc???

RISE LEOS TWO POKEMON

He attacked the floor

Rise raph to Rise splinter

Rottmnt memes

Leo wants his sanity back

Disaster twins and Wildberry

Artist is on their Ao3 Author arc /j

=====⏭⏸❗📶===

💀♠️RISESAGA A ROTTMNT X UNDERTALE AU! <<<And for more content click the blog there is now a master list there!!!♠️💀(Rewritting)

---📶⏸💥------

✍Ninjago.✍

+Ninjago Kung fu panda part 1

# Ninjago Kung fu panda part 2

= Lloyd,Brad and Gene fanart

$$ Sensei Garmadon SCREENSHOT REDRAW

B What if Uno reverse card Harumi

--Zzzzzz⏸📶zzzzzzZ--

Rise piece Rottmnt X one piece

- Join His crew

Alabasta arc. Super what??

⚠️spoiler Marineford arc⚠️ Older brother

-------$⏯Monster Promx Monster High crossover comic⏸(On.hold)$----- A SPOOKY CROSSOVER

❌ Oz] Their mission

🧟‍♂️ Brian's And Zombies Part 1

---🗨HAMATOS EXORCISM AU 🗨---

✍ FIRST POST/PROLOGUE?

🖤 EXPLANATION? AND PIEBALD???(joke art only the pokemon one)

👌 Memes

🙌 real lore and Tmnt 2007

✨️Funfacts Mikeys Flaming heads yokais friends

👞clothes..

----- Loading-----

--🐢⛑Ninjago x Rottmnt "Turtles Aid Au"🐢⛑--(Ongoing)

⛑ Prologue/first

#for fun #rottmnt #tmnt 2012 #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt au #rottmnt crossover #tmnt crossover #masterlist

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curioscurio · 10 months

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Watching Nimona again :]

I love that everytime I watch it I notice new things!! You can see all the little designs and world building details like how the shape of the eye light shines change as the movie progresses and how their characters develop, pride flags in the background, how so much of the dialog between Nimona and Ballister is pretty obviously reflective of a transgender allegory ( Why can't you just be a girl / you're too much / I'm not a girl / I feel worse when I don't do it ) etc

A new detail I just noticed is how Nimona has a streak of Red hair while shape-shifting as Ballister:

Which is also cool because in the comic, Nimonas Ballister-form ALSO has red hair (though it's all a dark read instead of the movies bright streak)

As a queer Sequential Art nerd, the Nimona movie has just been a four-course meal. Absolutely Delicious. Like no joke I majored in Comics/Sequential Art and Nimona (as well as Stevensons other hit graphic novel series, Lumberjanes) has always been one of those comics that they encouraged us to study as an amazing mastery of Sequential Art storytelling. ND Stevenson was a master at comics before he entered the animation industry, (most notable as the creator and executive producer of Netflix's She-Ra and the Princesses of Power) and his storytelling style in Animation really reflects it in the best of ways.

Also in 2020, it was announced that an animated Lumberjanes project was in the works on HBO Max! No info on a release date or anything, as far as I know, but I hope production is able to take all the time they need to do their Animation Magic tbh (Animation in general goes hard as fuck!!!!)

#this is just me infodumping about storytelling in comics as a medium vs storytelling in animation as a medium lmao

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redgoldsparks · 3 months

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January 2024 reading and Reviews by Maia Kobabe

I post my reviews throughout the month on Storygraph and Goodreads, and do roundups here and on patreon. Reviews below the cut.

Electric Bones volume 1 by Hazel and Bell

Lucian is the son of a minor nobleman and the CEO of the galaxy's biggest AI company, but he's not so rich that he can't get in trouble. After being fired as a programmer from Echo Station he joined a startup with a couple friends and is now fishing for funding at an elite tech expo on board an expensive and exclusive space vessel. There he sees someone he thinks he recognizes- Ezra, a grey robot, an fully sentient AI who worked on Echo Station as a researcher and partially cost Lucian his job. So why is Ezra now working on the space vessel as an escort? Unless it's not Ezra, but just a look-alike robot model? These questions drag Lucian into the beginnings of tangled web of intrigue which include kidnapping, AI-hacking, and murder. I've been reading this story online as a webcomic for years; you can still read all of volume one here: https://electricbonescomic.com/index.... But last year I also backed the kickstarter, and just sat down to re-read the whole story in print form, including a sexy little bonus comic. I love these characters, I love the rich colors, the lovely sense of flow and design of the pages. I can't wait for volume two!

The Fox Maidens by Robin Ha

Action packed and exciting, this family drama is full of unexpected twists and turns. I loved the focus on female characters: passionate Kai, whose love of martial arts and sense of justice cannot be contained by the normal rules of Joseon society; her mother, Meorhu, a fragile woman with a surprising past; Sura, a thief turned mercenary; and the Gumiho herself, the deadly but alluring fox spirit who impacts the lives of all the others with her magic and charisma. The art is rich with historical details, beautiful nature scenes, and fast paced fight scenes. Lovers of ghost stories, kdramas, and queer re-tellings of fairy tales will find much to enjoy here. I was lucky enough to read an advanced copy of this book! Pre-order it now, or look for it in bookstores in mid-February 2024.

A Nobleman’s Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles read by Martyn Swain

What a delightful return to Romney marsh! This book picks up 13 years after the dramatic conclusion of the previous installment. Luke Doomsday is now a secretary, looking for a new position in a large house were he can keep books and solve his master's problems. Rufus, the recently minted Earl of Oxney, formerly a major in the army and son of a draper, has problems. For one, he never expected to inherit and his uncle is doing everything he can to prove Rufus illegitimate in court. For another, the previous Earl of Oxney was a selfish old bastard who let the estates fall into terrible disrepair, while Rufus' timid cousin kept poor account of the estate's money in a chicken scratch handwriting. Rufus struggles to read at the best of times, and he can barely make sense of his newly inherited account books. When Luke shows up on his door, it feels like a godsend. The men are immediately attracted to each other, though both have reason to be wary. And Luke, in seems, may have come to Stone Manor looking for more than a job. This series is such a fun mix of spicy romance, action, mystery, and danger. I'm really enjoying the setting and time period, which is just after the end of the Napoleonic wars. I really hope there will be more books to come!

Translation State by Ann Leckie

No one is doing it like Ann Leckie! This sci-fi novel uses six different pronoun sets (actually kind of seven, except one is the same set just used culturally very differently by different groups of people). It’s fantastic. We’ve got they/them, e/em/eir, sie/hir, it/its, he/him, she/her, and she/her again except used as a universal pronoun regardless of gender (which works great inside the Radch Empire and badly outside of it). I'm on the fence about whether this book can be read as a stand alone, or if it would only really make sense after having read at the Imperial Radch trilogy and Providence. I suppose it depends on what level of baffling alien customs and politics you are willing to tolerate. This book opens with Enae attending hir grandmaman's funeral, only to learn that the seemingly wealthy old woman had sold her entire estate to a stranger before her death. For the first time in her life, Enae leaves home with a Foreign Affairs job: to see out a fugitive who left Presger space some 200 years prior. Enae isn't expecting to succeed, but sie gives it hir best shot- and in doing so completely upends the lives of a widening circle of bystanders including Reet, a man of unknown parentage, and Qven, a juvenile Presger. This book finally begins to explain this inhuman and terrifying species, and the reason why the Presger-Radachii Treaty defines the rules of so much of this universe. I deeply enjoyed this installment; it makes me want to go back and re-read the original trilogy.

Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo Duvall

Set in an alternate 1930s, Mississippi, this story follows a group of friends and found family who have to hide their magic from the restrictive and racist government. They survive at the margins, but they don't let the fear of prosecution stop them from doing what they love: racing together as a team. Deep in the woods seers and witches host carnival like events where racers on brooms compete for prize money and glory. Each of them has reasons why they need to win; lives and futures depend on it. This book is deeply queer with a diverse and magical cast. If you're looking for historical fiction where the trans and lesbian brown witches win, this one's for you.

Boys Weekend by Mattie Lubchansky

Sammie is a recently out nonbinary transfemm but their college friend group has not picked up on that fact yet. When Sammie is invited to be the "best man" at their friend Adam's wedding and attend a bachelor weekend at a high-tech, no-laws resort built on top of the Pacific Garbage Patch they decide to go in stealth mode. The resort is a pyramid scheme mutated with a strip club, business conference, all you can drink brunch bar, pro-gamer, most-dangerous-game corporate nightmare. Also, the waters around it are infested with terrifying flesh-eating monsters and someone is trying to raise an eldritch god. It takes every bit of queer resistance Sammie possesses to survive this bleak, hilarious, and surprisingly moving tale. In both their fiction and nonfiction comics, Lubchansky continues to hold up the black mirror to our own dystopian times.

Belle of the Ball by Mari Costa

A very queer high school rom-com comic with a satisfying message about growing into yourself and seeing others truly for who they are. It opens with a love triangle, but subverts that form into a more complicated shape by the end of the tale. Strong character designs and very effective limited color palette.

The Moth Keeper by K. O’Neill

In a desert village, a group of folks choose to live a nocturnal life to keep the moon company, and to care for a small group of magical moths, the only creatures who can pollinate a magical tree which helps sustain the whole ecosystem. One youngster, Anya, volunteers for the important but lonely job of Moth Keeper. She yearns to be of service to others, and feels she must earn her place in the village. In reality, help and friendship are only an ask away, and in this space everyone is cared for. This is a very beautifully illustrated and brief tale of responsibility, community, and resilience.

Feeding Ghosts by Tessa Hulls

What an accomplishment! I savored every page of Feeding Ghosts, absolutely floored by the labor and courage that went into the writing of this book. The inking is gorgeous, the history is clear, digestible, and devastating. This book threads the line between honesty and compassion in a way that I appreciate so much in any memoir, but especially one dealing with family. Hulls lays out the story of three generations of women starting with her grandmother, Sun Yi, a Shanghai journalist who faced intense persecution during the rise of Communism in China, who penned a popular and scandalous memoir and then suffered a mental breakdown. This left her only daughter, Rose, a student at an elite boarding school with no parental figures and no other family to lean on. Eventually Rose earned a scholarship to an American university and in the end moved her mother into her California home. Sun Yi haunted that home during the author's own childhood. The unexamined trauma and codependency of Sun Yi and Rose drove the author to the extreme edges of the Earth, seeking freedom from their ghosts. But in the end, she stopped running from her family history and turned, instead, to face it. Shelve this book with Maus, Fun Home, Persepolis and The Best We Could Do.

I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself by Marisa Crane read by Bailey Carr

I really struggled with this book. I almost DNFed at 25%. Ultimately, I did finish it, and I am glad I did because I think the final act was my favorite part of the story. However, I think the title and cover set me up with expectations of what this book would be which were very different than what the book actually delivered. This is not science fiction- despite the fact it was nominated in the science fiction category in the Goodreads Choice Awards. It is only barely speculative. This is a book about grief, depression, and parenting a baby and then a young child as a single mom struggling with loss and borderline alcoholism. There were passages of the book which struck hard, individual observations and lines which rang like bells. There is also nearly no plot and I was frustrated by the lack of world building. I wanted to know more about the laws governing extra shadows- were Shadesters allowed to vote, hold passports, travel across state lines? Had anyone experimented with the removal of Shadows? When and how did cameras get installed in apparently every home in American, and how did the government hire and pay for a workforce of seemingly 1:1 surveillance agents to citizens? Also, how on earth did Kris manage to pay for a whole apartment on a single salary working a call center job, especially when as a Shadester she had to pay extra taxes? I understand that this is literary fiction, and these questions are obviously not the ones the book was interested in answering. But it felt strange to me that a book so focused on parenting would not include a single passage about struggling to pay for or arrange childcare. The "pop quizzes" that break up the text did not work well in audio, and did not add anything to my experience of this book. Ultimately, I would only recommend this novel to a vary narrow audience of readers who enjoy lit fic, and are willing to spend a lot of time in the POV of a character teetering on the edge of a mental breakdown through much of the story.

Atana and The Firebird by Vivian Zhou

Atana is a mermaid, but she was banished from her home to live alone on island for a reason she doesn't understand. One night a curious young firebird leaves her flock in space to come down and visit Earth, and she convinces Atana to go an adventure. They are soon pursed by magic hunters, but they also make friends, and end up as invited guests in the Witch Queen's palace. She makes them welcome in her massive library and gardens, but she also has ulterior motives. This is a fast paced story of magic, friendship, and young people slowly learning about the forces larger than themselves that shape their world and their lives. I really enjoyed the art, it has a very active, energetic line which serves the action scenes particularly well. I can tell the author came from an animation background! I am glad that the ending set up potential future installments in this world.

Portrait of a Body by Julie Delporte

I really loved the colored pencil illustrations of this book, especially the botanical drawings, and the kind of abstract relation of the text and images. I thought the drawings paired extremely well with the hand lettering even if at times I struggled with some of the cursive capitals. This is a candid memoir of recovering from sexual assault and a dysfunctional relationship to ones body and sexuality, of stepping into queerness and self-acceptance. I couldn't really relate to the author's journey, but I appreciated the honestly and thoughtfulness with which the more challenging themes were handled.

Fool’s Fate by Robin Hobb read by Nick Taylor

This book, and this series, has earned Robin Hobb a permanent place in my list of favorite authors. This story goes so hard, weaving together threads that are 9 volumes and 30 plus years of in-story history in the making. The final confrontations, reunions, and farewells at the end of this story were hard earned and so well written. This very much felt like it could have been a final volume of the Realm of Elderlings series, but I know that there are 7 more books to come and I can't wait to see what else this series has in store for me!

System Collapse by Martha Wells read by Kevin R Free

This book picks up right after the end of the previous volume and I had, unfortunately, completely forgotten most of the previous plot. Once I got myself oriented I still had a great time with it. Wow, I just love watching Murderbot learn and grow and solve problems in unique and interesting ways! I kind of want to go back and re-listen to the whole series.

The Chromatic Fantasy by H.A.

This comic blew me away. One of the most beautiful, strange, artistically ambitious and deeply trans books I've read in a while. Aesthetically, its as rich as a stained glass window or illuminated manuscript. Its narrative is psychedelic but emotionally it rings so tender and true. The story opens with Jules, a transman trapped in a nunnery who accepts a deal with a devil who promises to help him live as a man. Possessed and impervious to physical harm, Jules turns to a life of debauchery and crime. Then he meets another trans criminal, the poetic thief and thespian Casper, and they begin to fall for each other. They see each other as no one else ever has, they validate and treasure one another, but Jules' devil is a jealous master. The devil would rather see Jules burn than thrive. This is one of those books that made me want to draw, made me want to write, made me want to be bolder, weirder, freer, wilder in my story telling. An instant favorite, I expect I'll return to this over and over.

Mall Goth by Kate Leth

Liv's parents are on the verge of divorce; they've just moved to a new town and Liv will be starting at a new high school. At her last school, Liv was bullied for being openly queer and an unapologetic mall goth, and she is understandably hesitant to accept friendship overtures at the new school. However, a supportive male English teacher and a fellow goth gamer boy start to make Liv feel welcome. The goth introduces her to an MMORPG and the English teacher praises her essays and gives her Lolita. Both of them start regularly DMing Liv late into the night, more than is appropriate for the relationships they have. This book is in large part about a teen navigating confusing advances and how and when to disclose things that make her uncomfortable but feel hard to speak about or define. I thought that aspect of the story was handled very well. Some of the pacing in the friendship plot lines surrounding it felt a bit rushed, a few sections underdeveloped, but ultimately I think this book tackled an important issue not often seen in YA comics. It is also steeped in early 2000s Hot Topic/emo music/pop culture references- if you were there, you'll know.

What’s Wrong? Personal Histories of Chronic Pain and Bad Medicine by Erin Williams

Williams illuminates, through memoir, interviews, and mixed media illustrations the extreme failures of the US healthcare system to address chronic pain. These failures are especially common for patients of color, patients who struggle with addictions, patients who are queer or survivors of assault and trauma. If you had any illusions that the systems of medical care are working in this country, shed them now. This book is half cathartic, half infuriating to read. I really appreciated the honesty and vulnerability of the interviewees and the trans and nonbinary inclusiveness of the language surrounding pain tied to the reproductive system.

#maia kobabe #reading #books #book reviews #comic book reviews

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batmannotes · 2 months

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David Mazzucchelli's Batman Year One Artist's Edition

David Mazzucchelli's Batman Year One Artist's Edition (Artist Edition) Hardcover is coming this summer.

An Artist’s Edition featuring the groundbreaking reinterpretation of Batman’s origin by comic book titans Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli. The entire groundbreaking story is included in this 14 x 21 inch collection, the same size as most of the pages were drawn. In 1986, Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli produced this groundbreaking reinterpretation of the origin of Batman: who he is and how he came to be. Sometimes careless and naive, this Dark Knight is far from the flawless vigilante he is today. In his first year on the job, Batman feels his way around a Gotham City far darker than the one he left. His solemn vow to extinguish the town’s criminal element is only half the battle. Along with Lieutenant James Gordon, the Dark Knight must also fight a police force more corrupt than the scum in the streets. Batman: Year One stands next to Batman: The Dark Knight Returns on the mantle of greatest Batman graphic novels of all time. This edition includes the complete graphic novel and a new introduction by David Mazzucchelli. All of Mazzucchelli’s layouts are presented, giving true insight into a master storytellers process from initial spark to completed page. This is an art book featuring rare and beautiful imagery, a collection for connoisseurs of the form. Chip Kidd, the legendary designer, will be guiding the look of the project. The volume collects Batman #404–407.

Preorder now at Amazon.

#batman #comic book #news #notes

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hobiebrownismygod · 6 months

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Headcanon: Pavitr knows Kalaripayattu and uses it when he fights

History:

Kalaripayattu is an ancient form of martial arts that was specifically designed for the battlefield. It originated in a state named Kerala, in South-western India and is actually fairly similar to Kung-Fu.

In the 13th-16th century, Kalaripayattu was a way of life in Kerala, believed to have been often taught to children as customary training. However, after the British Invasion and imperialism of India, Britain set laws in place to quell any possibility of Indian rebellion, preventing people from practicing or training in this martial art form. After this, it was only taught and practiced in very rural areas in order to avoid confrontation with the law.

Eventually, in the 1920s, it was revived and during a period of traditional rediscovery. There was a rise in the number of Kalaripayattu schools and Kalaripayattu presentations gained a lot of popularity. Now, although still not as well-known as many of the other Asian martial arts, it is a widely-known martial art form in South India and practiced by many.

It is also believed to be the oldest surviving martial art in the world, with a history spanning over 3000 years.

Style:

Like most martial arts, Kalaripayattu focuses on mind over body. Having complete control over your mind is essential to being able to succeed in mastering this art.

Ashtha Vadivu are 8 poses derived from the instinctual movements of wild animals, poses that were designed to make your body more flexible and powerful. They also help the student develop balance and stability.

Maithari are 18 different exercises practiced to achieve peak physical fitness and heightened reflexes. By practicing these, one can strengthen their body and their mind in order to be able to properly participate in combat situations.

Kalaripayattu also involves the usage of different kinds of weapons. Spears, swords and shields are all used, along with maces and really any weapon that can slash, stab or cut. Special wooden whips, knives and staffs can also be used.

youtube

This is an example of a Kalaripayattu tournament!

Headcanon:

In the comics, Pavitr was often bullied because of the fact that he came from a small town and wore different clothes than the other boys in Mumbattan. He was given his powers by an ancient Yogi, gaining the magical powers of a spider.

Because Kalaripayattu is very spiritual and based off the religious myths, it would make sense for Pavitr to incorporate it into his fighting style! I think he would've learned it prior in order to protect himself from his bullies, and eventually began to use it when he fought villains as Spider-man as well.

Its a lethal fighting style with weapons, but in hand-to-hand combat, wouldn't be as deadly so it would make sense for Pavitr to use it when he fights, in order to defend himself or strike his enemies.

Just random thoughts <3

Sources below the cut!

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girlfriendsofthegalaxy · 2 months

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tuesday again 2/27/2024

this is the longest ive ever been unemployed and media is only doing so much to beat back the horrors. so let’s talk about the media instead of the horrors

listening

Come Up For Air by We The Commas, off i think one of the autogenerated spotify indie mixes?

youtube

sort of a rollicking modern little surf rock thing, they describe themselves as "surf and alternate rhythm and blue" which is pretty bang on imo. they're all brothers (their last name genuinely is Comma, which i salute as a fellow weird last name haver), and cite john mayer (i don't really hear it) and the beach boys (yes i hear this very much) as some of their influences. a song i had on loop for an entire forty minute drive and did not get tired of. spotify

reading

three books that MUST go back to the library tomorrow bc their autorenew is up and i was emotionally unable to get a library card without tooling around and getting a stack of books a month ago.

thank you philip.

i really only liked the Carmilla adaptation by Amy Chu, bc it really gets at what i didn't realize was the heart of the original 1872 lesbian vampire novella: a toxic gay housing situation you have fallen into and can't get out of bc your area is so so so expensive and housing is so so so tenuous. i have read the original but not in a while, this is an excellent modern adaptation centering around a nyc social worker in the late seventies that presupposes no knowledge and intertwines the original novella in the form of a stolen rare book. (nonconsecutive pages)

i don't have much to say about the DC young adult comic about the circus career of one of the Robins (Dick Grayson). i didn't love the loose artstyle and am not in its intended age range plus it had a bit too much therapyspeak, but it did have a clever use of a very limited color palette.

let's yank the amazon description for the detective novel, which i grabbed bc it vaguely pinged something in my brain about one of the fallout 4 sidequests and i've picked books up for worse reasons (SPOILERS):

Jacob Rigolet, a soon-to-be former assistant to a wealthy art collector, looks up from his seat at an auction—his mother, former head librarian at the Halifax Free Library, is walking almost casually up the aisle. Before a stunned audience, she flings an open jar of black ink at master photographer Robert Capa’s “Death on a Leipzig Balcony.” Jacob’s police detective fiancée, Martha Crauchet, is assigned to the ensuing interrogation.

i simply fucking hated this authorial style and tone and ditched it two chapters in. i don’t currently have the patience for reading about a clinically insane mother and hate crimes against Jewish people. despite the fairly dark premise, the first two chapters veer into cozy mystery with very short sentences, which do not a noir make. now, it does not advertise itself as noir or neo-noir, but as an homage to noir. it is for me unbearably smug. in my most unkind heart of hearts i want to say it's like if wes anderson tried to make a noir. this is a book that wants you to know it has read other noirs. yes thank you ive read several others, that’s why im reading this one, stop reminding me of better books i could be reading.

there's some weird descriptions of womens' bodies in here. chandler (my beloved) is certainly guilty of this as well, but he lavishes a sort of equal opportunity eye on the men in his mysteries. cf the infamous daniel lavery description.

when i read a chandler description of someone’s physical appearance there’s a fruity bisexual aftertaste in my mouth. Howard Norman, below, saying a woman takes great care of herself puts my hackles up. i understand the difference between an author and a character believing something and i don’t want to read a book where either the author or the character have this sort of pitying condescension towards a woman’s body. im feeling extremely terrible about my own body right now due to the various maladies, and another sort of breaking point for me is when an author repeatedly describes "naked breasts" (exact wording) pressing against someone's torso. it feels so juvenile. that's the sexiest thing you can possibly think of??? that's the sexiest way you can think of to describe an early mornign moment of intimacy???? augh i read the NYT review and it gets worse.

shut the FUCK up. i left my apartment at 1130 PM to go put this book in my CAR. i don't want it in my HOUSE.

watching

Bullitt (1968, dir. Yates, free on Tubi). the baddie in this is Robert Vaughn (who i know from cowboys), a guy i fucking love to see. i can take or leave Steve McQueen but he does such a killer job parallel parking in this movie and i wish all driving movies made their leads parallel park. shockingly realistic hospital, morgue, and police work scenes, apparently was one of the big films to popularize blood squibs. also love to see a haunted man splash water on his face and stare into a mirror.

youtube

if you asked me how long the famous car chase was i would have said like 2:30? substantial but snappy. no!!! eleven minutes!! (video a bit trimmed). also a rare movie that makes a foot chase through an airport as exciting as that eleven minute car chase!!!

the mob dodging plot was a little hard to follow, but i was operating on like four hours of sleep and a rum and coke. this has got to be a tremendous movie to watch when you’re home and sick on the couch huddled under a blanket. i mean this as a compliment, as someone who watches Escape from New York whenever i feel very sick

playing

really wanted to get to 69 shrines before writing this post and finally did it. all the little divine beasts walking along the loading screen are SO cute i've never gotten all four before

all the divine beasts are unlocked and the champions laid to rest! im feeling some type of way emotionally speaking about all of them telling link IMMEDIATELY that it wasn't his or zelda's fault they died

rudania has the worst boarding mission (in order of ones i most enjoyed it's camel [SO fast and SO fun], bird [lots of time to think and plan and aim], elephant [did not make me do a tedious stealth mission but i am bad at locking on to rapidly moving things behind me, much like in real life], and lizard. the lizard stealth mission is simply unpleasant). however, my brain really clicked with the puzzles in rudania: i had to consult a walkthrough once for an optional chest. in order of interior beast puzzle enjoyment for me it's lizard, bird, elephant, and camel. really got stuck for a long time on the waterwheels with the elephant before consulting a walkthrough.

the yiga clan stealth mission was not as hard as i thought it would be. i don't know why i put that off for two real life weeks but i will not learn my lesson and i will never improve. this boss battle was just silly.

the vah naboris interior puzzles were not fun. idk what it was about them or my brain that made me have such a bad time, but i spammed revali's gale and skipped a lot of chests bc i was not having fun. this is why god invented the walkthrough but sometimes. shit is just too fiddly.

i did succeed on the thunder ganon boss battle first try, but i came in with extra hearts from mipha's grace, used another mipha's grace in the fight, went through five fairies and seven hearty simmered fruits that were 5x durians (which gives you 20 extra hearts or some shit). fucking nightmare. i was stuck on one hit left on ganon for like five minutes bc he got stuck in the very fast flurry attack cycle. unpleasant. deeply grateful it only made me smack him with the magnesis pillar once bc that was also really fiddly with my poor reaction time + poor fine motor skills + previously mentioned ancient controller with some drift. in order of boss battle enjoyment i think it's lizard (made me think and kept me on my toes a little but i did have to look up how to break the shield), elephant (you can just kind of tank it), bird (same), and camel (extremely not fun).

this was WITH a fully upgraded gimp suit btw. that shit (ganon) just hits hard.

shrine shenanigans:

crowned beast very fun, i have one or two of kass' songs left and then i hope i get to see him back in rito village with his family??? a little nervous bc i went right to the jungle spring without hearing his song first so idk if that will. count??? or softlock me.

the MOUNDS of failed cooking attempts around this shrine on the grasslands side of the gerudo barrier mountains were SO funny.

unlocked all the spring shrines. what a fun mission. what a fun climb.

went to my FAVORITE shrine!!! going into what you think will be a normal cave and discovering it is DEEP with a BIG WHALE INSIDE is top three video game whale moments (the other two are diving with the whales in ABZU and meeting the last whale in the first dishonored).

other bits and bobs:

eggman rocks???

this quest was really cute and i wish there was a corresponding quest for the guy hanging around the broken heart pond, but it always makes me laugh whenever a dragon shows up in the background of a screenshot. a really great touching moment but watch out for the elemental orbs rapidly approaching us

also made me chortle. get it together barta.

i wish the helm was upgradable but i think making me kill a molduga in order to borrow it is a pretty fair trade actually.

making

i originally had a really long thing here about litterbox trials and tribulations but i have decided to spare you all. you're welcome.

many balcony improvements, including putting up trellises and installing bird spikes to hopefully keep a very persistent orange tom off my balcony and away from my girls.

there are a goofy number of obstacles in the way of me making a proper planting diagram (sketchbooks buried deep in closet. flung the seeds in a box on a shelf i need to find my stepstool for. can't find pencil sharpener) so for the second week in a row that's not happening. however, sprouts.

baby italian lettuce blend

bush beans in the front and cucumbers + sweet peas in the back.

#tuesday again #tuesday again no problem

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working-tidal-pod · 24 days

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Cast announcements for the pilot!

Yesterday (April 6th) marked the start of Podcast Jam 2024 and we are very excited to share the cast we put together!

JustJenah as Annette Culligan!

Jenah (they/them) loves stories in all forms but most especially audio dramas. When they are not actively falling in love with nearly every short lived queer tv show they can get their hands on, you can find them geeking out over their favorite podcasts, attempting to increase their deadlifts over 200lbs, flailing their hands at every jump scare as they play survival horror games, tempting friends to play Settlers of Catan, and grilling up pizzas in all weather.

Jenah’s socials: @ JustJenahHere on twitter and BlueSky @theyofmanyvoices on tumblr

Cody Heath as Eric Sanders!

Cody (they/them) is your friendly neighborhood non binary voice actor by day, Bassist of Elsewhere! and Photographer also by day!

Cody’s socials: @ codyvmwastaken on twitter @ paperchest on instagram

Louis Wolf as Finn Culligan!

Louis (he/they) is an avid bird enjoyer and disabled art student who is passionate about storytelling of all forms but has a particular love for DnD and comics. Besides ttrpgs, he’s been known to geek about Superman with encyclopedic knowledge.

Louis’ socials: @louis-dc @ ItsLouis_W on Twitter @ __louis.scott__ on instagram

Wes Marin as Fisher Culligan!

Wes (they/she/he) is a writer, poet, singer, and student living on the California coast. They’ve been a long time audio drama fan, but this is their first project that’s gotten off the ground. They are a self proclaimed mermaid expert, which is needed for this oceanic project. They dabble in music and singing as well as cosplay and other performance hobbies. They are really excited to share Working Tidal and make new friends along the way!

Wes’ socials: @aplaceinwhichtoswim @ WesMarinB on twitter

Gem Aydin as Riley Culligan

Gem Aydın (they/them) is an intersectionality lawyer and a human rights activist. As big nerd with academic hearts, they love to learn, explore, and teach in their unique way. Ever since they listened to their first audio drama, they wanted to express their art in this medium and created 400 Words A Horror with friends to learn to make an audio drama. They are not just the voice of Haven in 400WAH but also sound design and co-run the show. Quick to learn and develop, they started auditioning for voice acting. Autistic of many trades, master of ADHD, Gem keeps on looking ways to learn different things and better what they know so far.

Gem’s socials: @gemaydin https://linktr.ee/gemaydin

Tatiana Gefter as Marnie!

Tatiana (she/they) is a PNW native who can be found haunting fiction podcast and ttrpg spaces all over the internet. You may recognize her as the creator and lead voice actress of Soul Operator, a narrative fiction and actual play fusion. You also catch her as Violet Lull in The Department of Variance of Somewhere Ohio, Marigold in season two of Tales from the Fringes of Reality, Helen Hartley in Woe.Begone, and many more places. For a full list of her credits, please check out her resume via her twitter.

Tot’s socials: @totcoc0a @ tot_cocoa on twitter and @souloperatorpod everywhere

#who is excited for gay fish?#wtpod #Working Tidal #Working Tidal pod #Working Tidal Podcast #this post took longer than it should have #it’s fish show time baby #it’s a comedy i promise #feesh show #twin fish podcast #tfishpodcasts #fish podcast #I haven’t needed to make proper posts on tumblr in awhile

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wiserodin032402 · 1 year

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Violence in Fiction: what it means to be ‘good’ at violence and why D&D will never deliver

The TTRPG dev writes about TTRPGs. Astounding.

So since the Kobeni post keeps printing notes I decided it’s time to talk about violence.

You know, the good shit. Combat. Rolling initiative. Seeing big damage numbers.

Last big post I talked about how Kobeni from Chainsaw Man is a traditional D&D Fighter. Link Here:

https://www.tumblr.com/wiserodin032402/703497105280483328/kobeni-from-chainsaw-man-is-a-dd-fighter

Now we gotta talk about what it means to be good at violence means. In a fictional way. When I say Kobeni is only good at ‘mundane’ violence, I mean she’s really good at not getting hit and killing singular people okay. She kills people with a completely mundane (as far as we know) knife. Human opponents basically don’t stand a chance against her.

But what does it mean to go beyond mundane violence? Let’s use an example character.

Maya from Kill Six Billion Demons

(Read K6BD here: https://killsixbilliondemons.com/comic/kill-six-billion-demons-chapter-1/)

She’s a former universal conqueror and a student of the greatest swordswoman to ever live. When she properly introduces herself to Allison, the main character, she says this:

She doesn’t introduce herself as a swordswoman, and in fact her own teacher, Meti-ten-Ryo, considers herself a student of the principle art of cutting as well. In her sword manual (in flavor texts around the comic) she states that there is no such thing as a sword, that in order to master the sword you must instead wholly devote yourself to violence in all aspects of your being, and mostly talks about cutting.

Cutting is the sanctioned action.

What does this ability look like in action?

This is Maya’s response to a bullet. She doesn’t dodge. She doesn’t duck. She doesn’t draw a weapon. She looks at the bullet and it is cut.

"Beware the swordsman who carries no blade." -Proverb; KSBD 4-70

But as shown in the art at the start, she does carry a blade. A broken one. But what does it look like when she uses it? What does the art of cutting look like?

It looks like this:

Maya does not fight her opponent here, 6 Juggernaut Star, an incredibly powerful angel. No, she simply slays their form in a single strike with some amount of effort. Juggernaut Star enacts violence upon others, but Maya lives and breathes violence as an art form.

There are many characters like this in Kill Six Billion Demons, one of the strongest being

Solomon David

He’s more aligned to the idea of the D&D monk than anything else, but it’s still good to go over because, well...he’s very fucking good at violence.

Beware the splash zone, gore warning below.

He kills and entire arena of contestants in under a second. Not using any magical powers from his Key of Kings. But with a special breathing technique and years of practicing the rare martial art of Ki Rata.

All of this is also damn near impossible to mechanically translate to a tabletop role-playing game if you care about things like ‘balance’ or ‘encounter structures’ like D&D does.

Fundamentally, your D&D Fighter, who only does combat, cannot be good enough at combat to take that niche for themselves.

If they could, a healthy chunk their abilities would revolve around instantly killing amounts of opposition, just like how Rogues can rig their skill checks to be so high you shouldn’t even bother, and Spellcasters can pull out a spell to instantly solve situations (including combat sometimes). If these other two thirds of the game can be solved like this, then Fighter, the class that fights, and only fights, should be instantly resolving combat.

In fiction, characters who are transcendent in combat don’t fight their opponents, they deal with them instantly unless their opponent is on the same level as them or above them.

But this isn’t possible in D&D, as it would either need to quantify this ability as a resource, or would need to necessitate dealing an excess of damage. There’s also the third issue: that the rest of the game isn’t developed enough for one class to make Combat the thing they solve reliably and instantly.

Since the combat is the only developed part of the game, it remains the only reliable challenge, so all classes have to have a way to participate in combat. Fundamentally, you can’t have a class that solves combat directly, because then the game is boring.

Which leaves D&D’s combat (outside of spells) as modeling only basic weapon attacks, from the start of the game to the end of the game. Even in 3.5 and Pathfinder with their combat maneuver system, it requires too many player resources to utilize what are ultimately situational and mundane tricks (even if they are fun to do).

Finally, all editions have a strange fixation with the grittiness of unarmed combat. No one knows how to punch anyone unless they’re a Monk or spend excessive amounts of character resources to attain this legendary ability. A Fighter, someone who trains only to kill other people day in and day out, to the detriment of all other skills, is worthless without a weapon. The mere act of striking another human with a closed fist is simply alien to them.

Since a Fighter cannot be dominant at violence, cannot transcend their need for a weapon, and cannot attain any form of enlightenment from their constant training for violence, they are at level 20 how they started at level 1:

A weak-willed fool who clings excessively to a worthless length of metal

#my ramblings #D&D #violence #kill six billion demons #cw: gore #longpost #can you tell I like K6BD

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